Lifestyle Advice for Angry Type-A Action People by Brian B. Carter, MS, LAc

The Wood Personality Type (Inspiration and Strategic Planning for Success without Coffee and Espresso)

Chinese Medicine has a system of five body-mind-emotion types. This article explains one of those types.

Strategic planning for success is a trademark of Wood Personality Types in Oriental Medicine. They are driven with the ambition to win. One unhealthy fuel for inspiration is coffee (espresso, caffeine). The effects of caffeine on this personality profile are negative. You can improve health and in a positive way with the solutions in this article

I Didn't Want To Quit Espresso

I did everything I could to avoid it. I tried different kinds. Drinking it at different times. Taking herbs to offset the side effects. Giving myself acupuncture for the headaches. Nothing worked. I was too irritable, too sound-sensitive. I had migraines and eye pain. I had to quit coffee.

I Needed Espresso

Actually, I quit espresso not coffee, because by that time, coffee wasn't good enough for me. I thought espresso was 'purer,' a better drug. I thought I needed it. I was too groggy in the morning, and I needed to be inspired! Never mind that part of my grogginess was because I couldn't sleep that well, even if I only drank coffee in the morning. Never mind that there are better ways to be inspired.

Wood Types and Coffee Don't Mix

The fact is that, constitutionally, I am a Wood type. I'm assertive with a tendency toward aggressiveness. I enjoy competition and ambition. I make quick decisions, I am disagreeable, direct, and stubborn. I don't like to be wrong. I take the lead out of impatience with others. I like taking

risks. I drive fast and I climb rocks without safety equipment. I loved how espresso made me feel powerful and invulnerable.

But I Didn't Really Need It

A Wood type like me doesn't need coffee. I have plenty of drive, inspiration, and creativity without it. In fact, someone like me needs balance in the other direction. There are chinese herbal formulas that help… the ones that move the liver qi, calm the shen, and protect the spleen. For example, xiao yao san or its modification dan zhi xiao yao san are good. Even the bitter and cold formula, long dan xie gan tang, is occasionally (in the short-term) appropriate.

Are You A Wood Type Too?

I'm not trying to be self-centered and just talk about me. There are other Wood types out there - they're the type A personalities, the power-drivers, the always-on and frequently-irritable types. If you relate, you may find out how to find balance for yourself. A wood type's stagnation can show up in a number of ways: it can attack the earth leading to digestive symptoms (e.g. nausea and loss of appetite), or the metal affecting breathing or elimination (shortness of breath, asthma, constipation). Stagnation of wood element qi can also rise upwards leading to headaches, red eyes, migraines, eye pain, insomnia, irritability, frustration, and anger.

First Do No Harm - Stop Hurting Yourself

I've heard it said that in treating disease, the first thing you should do is STOP anything that makes it worse. Stop hurting yourself! I know… easier said than done. There's always a reason why we do what we do. Even if it hurts us, it fulfills some other need we don't think we can get met elsewhere. This is kind of like side effects; drugs often fix one thing, but cause imbalance elsewhere. Chinese herbal formulas are better at avoiding this phenomenon. If you are interested in the obsession/compulsion/addiction angle, you may want to read my articles about addiction or food cravings.

The Four Categories of Knowledge

To explain how to deal with your wood type constitution, I first need to divide your knowledge into four categories:

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BIO:

Acupuncturist, herbalist, and medical professor Brian B. Carter founded the alternative health megasite The Pulse of Oriental Medicine (http://www.PulseMed.org/). He is the author of the book "Powerful Body, Peaceful Mind: How to Heal Yourself with Foods, Herbs, and Acupressure" (November, 2004). Brian speaks on radio across the country, and has been quoted and interviewed by Real Simple, Glamour, and ESPN magazines.

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